Jon Horford’s costly missed chances will haunt Florida
Jon Horford probably will have nightmares about the last two minutes of Florida’s 68-61 loss to Kentucky.
Twice the 6-foot-10 senior had the ball alone under the rim with the chance to score a game-altering basket. Twice he let the opportunity slip away and failed to score a point.
The first chance came when Kasey Hill curled around a Horford screen at the top of the key and then fed the big man a bounce pass as he rolled to the basket. Seemingly spooked by the size and shot blocking ability of Kentucky’s frontline, Horford wasted a chance to tie the game, shot-faking instead of immediately going up strong and then missing two free throws after Karl-Anthony Towns fouled him
Horford had to foul Towns at the other end after getting out-muscled for position on an offensive rebound, but the Florida big man still had one final chance to redeem himself after his counterpart sank two free throws to make it a four-point game. When Hill found him again in the paint on an identical pick-and-roll play, Horford again hesitated, this time getting called for shuffling his feet before Towns fouled him.
ESPN analyst Jay Bilas torched the referees for calling Horford for traveling, but in truth replays appeared to be inconclusive. And regardless of whether the call was right or wrong, Horford could have avoided putting himself in that situation had he attacked the rim with confidence.
The two missed chances by Horford greatly diminished Florida’s hopes of springing one of the season’s biggest upsets. Once Chris Chiozza’s wide-open corner three rimmed out with Florida down five on its next possession, Gators fans began heading for the exits and Kentucky could celebrate surviving one of its toughest road tests with its undefeated record intact.
Florida entered Saturday’s game having lost four of its last six to slide to the middle of the league standings and out of contention for an NCAA tournament bid, but the Gators weren’t as intimidated by Kentucky as many other teams are. After all, they beat the Wildcats three times last season and hadn’t lost to their SEC rival in 700 days prior to Saturday.
While the Gators led for much of the first half and stayed within striking distance into the final minute, they had no answer for Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein in the paint or Aaron Harrison and Devin Booker on the perimeter. That quartet combined for all but one of Kentucky’s points, none more memorable than the two Cauley-Stein put on the board with a jaw-dropping one-handed slam early in the second half.
Florida hung around because it had surprising success against Kentucky’s vaunted defense even after losing Michael Frazier to an ankle injury.
Had the Gators made more than half their free throws or Horford converted either of his two chances in the paint, it might have been different. Instead it will go down as another win for the nation’s top-ranked team and another loss for one of college basketball’s biggest underachievers.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
